


The Demon who Wooed a Prince

by Kahvi



Series: Thor and the Demon [2]
Category: Norse Religion & Lore, Thor (Comics), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Mythology, F/M, Helheimr | Hel (Realm), M/M, Norwegian Mythology & Folklore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 12:59:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14853222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kahvi/pseuds/Kahvi
Summary: There is a story told of brave Prince Thor, and how he tricked a demon to aid him in his quest to save the fair Sif from Helheim. But stories are living things, and who is to say how the truth fares in the telling?A companion piece to The Prince who Wooed a Demon - https://archiveofourown.org/works/14849333





	The Demon who Wooed a Prince

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Prince who Wooed a Demon](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14849333) by [Roadstergal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roadstergal/pseuds/Roadstergal). 



There is another story.

 ****A story of a young girl, skilled in the arts of war, forged into a mighty warrior in battle. She would have been a favored of the Valkyries, but the last of them died centuries before she was born. Sif was born to a high Lord of the Æsir, and as she grew into womanhood, so did the number of her suitors. Sif would have none of them. She favored sword and shield to the embrace of bodies, men or women.

 ****Sif’s father, tired in his old age and longing for his only child to wed and bear an heir to further their line, begged her to consider each of the Lords and Ladies of the noble families of Asgard and Vanaheim in turn. Sif made friends and loyal allies, but none stirred her heart. And so, her father traveled to the All-Father’s court to speak with Frigga, wife of Odin and mother of Thor, god of storms and master of lightning.

 ****It was whispered in the halls of Asgard, as Sif’s father well knew, that Frigga was the wiser of the royal couple, and that her son favored her in mind and his father in looks, and them both in power, many fold. “Majesty,” Sif’s father implored her, “my daughter is the pride of Asgard, in looks, might and skill.”

 ****Queen Frigga smiled. “Would you say then that my son, Thor the Jotun-killer, he of the golden hair, who wields the hammer of the gods, is lesser prize?”

 ****“Indeed not,” quoth he, “and so all must agree the match is ordained by the loom of the Norns.”  And so, it was agreed. Frigga had a ring made, which she gave Thor to grant his betrothed, out of heavy yellow gold and a ruby red as blood. The prince, who was young and had not yet known love, looked at the ring and knew that the one for whom it had been made, must be a fair prize indeed. And so, before the two had even met, all of Asgard celebrated their union to be.

 ****In the halls of her home, Sif received the news with outrage, taking to her steed and riding out into the woods for three days on end. When she returned, she had slain a deer, a pheasant and and an elk, which she presented as offerings for the wedding feast. She and her father embraced, and she went with him, willingly, to Asgard.

 ****Little is known of what happened when Sif and Thor met, though meet they did, and when they arrived at the betrothal feast, it was with flushed cheeks and arms intertwined. For in secret, the two had made a pact to protect and cherish one another, and both be free to love, or not, as they choose.

 ****The feast, set to last three days from beginning to end, commenced with games of skill. Sif bested Thor at archery, Thor bested Sif at riding. Sif demanded a tournament of fencing, and easily defeated Thor. Thor asked for a contest of strength, and easily defeated Sif. Well matched in all, they retired to the banquet hall, where the cooks had toiled night and day to prepare the animals Sif had slain. But in her newfound joy she forgot the pheasant, and the deal the two had made, there in the woods. And as she ate, its spirit whispered to her: “I honor our bargain. Remember the words you spoke: 'I will slay you, but you may slay me in turn when the time comes.'” A bone, hidden in its flesh lodged it in the throat of Sif the fair, Sif the mighty, and took the breath from her. And so, the bargain was honored.

 ****The feast of betrothal turned to a feast of mourning. Thor, the brotherless, who had known no other love, was beside himself with grief. Sif’s kin tore their shirts and wailed, and in the grand halls of Valhalla, silence fell. Three days of feasting became three days of sorrow, and at the end of the last, Sif’s father came to mighty Thor, Thor of the thunder and lightning; Thor of the hammer of the gods.

 ****“Highness, I am but an old man. Were I younger, I would go to Helheim and wrest my Sif from Hel’s clutches by my own hands. But it cannot be. You are young and strong. I beg of you; save my daughter!”

 ****Frigga, who had overheard his plea, qouth then: “Thor, the brotherless, the one to power born, is the Prince of Asgard. You have lost a daughter. Would you have both me and the kingdom lose a son?”

 ****But Thor raised his hammer, the mighty Mjølner, and proclaimed: “We swore fealty to one another, and Sif has shown me nothing but kindness. I would go to Helheim and wrest her from Hel’s clutches, this I swear.” And to what Thor had set his mind, none of the Æsir could dissuade him.

 ****Brave Thor journeyed far, and further than far, and many challenges did he face. But resolute was the son of Frigga, betrothed of Sif, and before long he stood at the gates of Helheim. The gates were guarded by a hound, with flaming eyes and jagged yellow teeth in each of its many heads. But Thor could see the pain in its eyes and the jagged rock in its paw. “Be still, beast,” quoth Thor, “and I will ease your pain.” Frightened and confused, the beast still roared and fell upon him. Thor raised his mighty hammer, and with only one blow to each of its flanks, the beast ran whimpering away, leaving Thor free to enter the Realm of the Dead.

 ****A lake of fire stood before him. Yet there were paths - jutting stone, small islands, steaming hot rock here and there.  He walked, leaped, and climbed as he could, yet always, the mischievous paths lead him back to the entrance. He roared and thundered his anger, but the rocks themselves were unmoved, mocking his impotence.

 ****“These are not rocks,” he mused. “This is not fire.” And sure enough, when Thor’s eyes knew to dwell upon it, from the background of stone and lava there stood forth a Hel-demon, a fire-sprite with bronzed-scaled skin and molten red eyes of red fire.

 ****"Greetings, Thor, Thunderer, God of Storms and Dark Clouds, Master of Valhalla," quoth the demon, casting its eyes upon Thor.  "You are far from the celestial heights and blue skies of your home. What has brought you to Helheim?"

 ****Thor had never seen such a magnificent creature. "Good demon," replied Thor, his heart yearning as it never had for man or woman, "I have come on a quest to regain a fallen companion, taken too early.  But I confess, now, that your beauty has moved my heart greatly. I would know you better, sweet demon."

 ****"Come into my realm, then," the demon invited him, and Thor’s soul rejoiced. How quickly a heart can be charmed! Indeed the spell of Freya makes fools of all - beast, man, giant, demon, even god.  "Join me, and we will swim together in the warm lakes of Helheim, and bask in the fires of the Caverns of the Damned."

 ****"Good demon," quoth Thor, "alas, my flesh is too weak to stand the heat of your realm.  Can you not join me on the hard stone?"

 ****And so the demon met him on the cold stone, and they spoke of Love to each other, and kissed. Thor, knowing nothing of the charms of men or women, knew that this was what the loom of the Norns had forseen for him. He took the demon's red hand and professed his desire to be wed.

 ****"But, sweet demon," quoth he, "I have come on an errand of great importance. My dead companion in arms is mourned by all the land, and I have come to save her. Join me! Let us find her together, and when we return triumphant, she shall be your bridesmaid."

 ****The demon thought long and hard.  "This I will do," he promised. "I will take you to her.  But you must come with me; you must return with a craft that would bear you safely over the fiery Hel-seas."

 ****Thor journeyed then to Nidavellir, and sought out Eitri, greatest of all of the smiths. “Great Eitri, master of all crafts, armsmaster to the gods; I would have your aid.”

 ****“What ails you, Prince of Asgard” asked Eitri, seeing Thor’s face and hearing his voice, as both were as shadows of their former selves.

 ****“Master of all forges, I am lost. My companion at arms, the mighty Sif, has been taken from me. And now my heart has been stolen much the same by a demon from the fires of Hel.”

 ****“A challenge worthy of a god,” agreed Eitri, “but how can I aid you?”

 ****And so Thor told him of his need of a boat that could sail the fires of Helheim and not perish or smoulder, and Eitri agreed it was a challenge worthy of a master smith, but that a masterwork of such magnitude required payment in kind.

 ****Gold, the dwarves have enough of, but Thor well knew their ways. Reaching back, he touched his hair, showing Eitri the flaming yellow strands. "You do not have gold such as this, honored Dwarf."

 ****And so it was that Eitri shaved the gold from Thor's head, and made for him a small, light boat that could fold up and fit in a pocket.

 ****"You have returned for me," the demon quoth to Thor, his eyes shining with Freya's spell.  "I will, as I promised, bear thee to the heart of Helheim, to retrieve your comrade."

 ****They journeyed together in the boat of Eitri, the boat of Sindre, master craftsman, born of sparks and the glow of embers. And soon came they upon the bodies of the dead, walking as though life was still in them, with pale gray faces in the ashen depths. Here, there was no fire, for here was the true realm of Hel, the shadow-place. The land beyond time, where the fire of life is no more. The demon, who was filled with life and love, could go no further, but here Thor could stand aground.

 ****“There is my comrade,” he cried, spotting Sif in the far distance, a shade of herself, silent and soul-less.

 ****"Come with me, Sif," bade Thor, his heart splitting in twain.  "You remember yourself not, here in these dark caves, but you will see the sun, and life, and know yourself again."

 ****She held out her hand, the hand that bore the heavy gold ring with the stone as red as blood.  Thor took it, drawing her into the boat, and together they went, back to the cold gates of Helheim. No sooner had Sif stepped through, no sooner did the sun shine upon her face, but she regained the blush of life again.  She warmed, and looked with love upon Thor. "You braved the demons of Helheim to return me to the land of the living," quoth she.

 ****And Thor rejoiced with her. “Fair and brave Sif,” quoth he, “behold the demon who has brought me to you, and who helped bring you back to the land of the living so that we may be together again at long last.” He was about to take the ring from her hand, the ring whose true match he now had found, and his heart rejoiced.

 ****But upon hearing those words, the demon’s heart was darkened, for he believed he had been played false. Great was his rage and sadness, and he raged in the forests of Midgard, bewailing his fate, and the trees grew red and burned.

 ****The Old Wise Ones of Midgard, fearing for the safety and livelihood of their tribes, sacrificed a young ram to Thor, slitting its throat and letting blood stain Thor's effigy in their blót. _Save us, God of Storms, from the hellfire.  We have served you faithfully for so long, with blót and song and prayer._

 ****Thor, the master of winds and the dark storm-clouds, took pity on the men and women of Midgard, and called the clouds to him.  Great was the deluge of water they unleashed, and the tribes took desperate shelter in their rude huts. Yet the cold, heavy rains dampened the skin and the spirit of the Hel-demon, and the fires died down.

 ****The demon howled with loss and mourning, and though Sif and Thor searched all the land for three days on end, they could find neither hide nor hair of him. Some say you can hear him in the woods of Midgard still, howling his rage.

 ****Others yet say the waters cooled him too much, and that he now dwells in the Northlands of eternal ice.

 ****But there are those, again, who say Thor’s rain cooled him just enough, and that he dwells now in Midgard, always young, never aging, as dark and ashen as the souls in Helheim, where the fire of life and love is no more. And when it thunders, Thor is calling him. And one day, he may answer.

 


End file.
